Stryker to feature novel 3D-printed spinal implants at AAOS Conference

Stryker’s spine division will feature its 3D-printed Tritanium Posterior Lumbar (PL) Cage and introduce a variety of new cage sizes at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting.

The event will take place from 15 to 18 March in San Diego.

Stryker’s Tritanium PL Cage launch initially included four footprint options, eight height options, and two lordosis options.

The company now offers several additional sizes based on surgeon needs and requests, including a hyper-lordotic (12°) cage option, as well as two new footprints—9 x 32 mm and 11 x 32 mm.

During the conference, Stryker’s proprietary Tritanium In-Growth Technology will be featured in a virtual reality “tour,” providing surgeons with a unique perspective on how 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, allows the company to produce highly porous implants that would be difficult or impossible to create using traditional manufacturing techniques.

Tritanium Technology allows for the creation of porous structures designed to mimic cancellous bone in pore size, level of porosity, and interconnectivity of the pores.¹

 This “precise randomization”¹ of fully interconnected pores differs from other technologies featuring longitudinal channels and traverse windows that result in a uniform lattice structure, as well as cages offering porosity that is only present on the surface.

“Stryker is a pioneer in 3D additive manufacturing, investing nearly 15 years in research and development,” said Stryker’s Spine division President Bradley Paddock.

 “Unlike traditional manufacturing techniques, the flexibility of our 3D additive manufacturing capabilities allows us to precisely engineer and produce porous Tritanium devices. We are excited to continue growing our unique suite of Tritanium spinal products.”

Also at AAOS, results will be presented from a pre-clinical animal study that evaluated the biomechanical performance and bone in-growth potential of various lumbar interbody fusion implants utilizing different materials, including the Tritanium PL Cage.

Preliminary results of the study were presented at the North American Spine Society conference in October 2016.

The Tritanium PL Cage features fully interconnected pores that span endplate to endplate. Its large lateral windows and open architecture allow visualization of fusion on CT and X-ray,² and its solid-tipped, precisely angled serrations are designed to allow for bidirectional fixation and to maximize surface area for endplate contact with the cage. Additional spinal implants based on Stryker’s Tritanium Technology are in development.